If you’ve never heard of vivo, it is a Chinese company that is one of the top smartphone makers in the world. vivo is known for premiering cool tech on smartphones, like under the display fingerprint scanner and motorized selfie cameras that we have seen being replicated by other phones.
Now vivo has over two million users enjoying its mobile products and services around the world. vivo features offline retail shop stores in over 1,000 cities worldwide.
Recently, the mobile phone manufacturer launched its Y series of smartphones in Kenya and they are targeting the youth with these slew of devices. The devices are they Y12, Y15 and Y17 and they share a lot of specifications.
“The Y Series is made for the youth,” Mr. Hosea Liu, General Manager at vivo Kenya said. “We are bringing our latest photography innovations to many younger consumers through our three fashionable Y Series smartphones.”
“With ‘Powered by Youth’ as our guiding light, the Y Series is a clear example of our commitment to bring advanced and premium features to our energetic and dynamic consumers all around the world and from all walks of life,” he added.
They share the same 6.35-inch HD+ display which vivo calls it the FullView™display. This display has an impressive 89% screen to body ration thanks to the narrow bezels on all sides.
They also run the same massive 5000mAh battery. We are used to companies slapping 4000mAh on their phones, but vivo is raising the bar with this battery size. this means that they will last you for longer on a single charge. The Y17, in particular, has vivo’s Dual Engine Fast Charging technology to charge this battery really fast, unlike the Y15 and Y12.
The three phones also share the same Funtouch 9 skin on top of Android 9 pie. It is great they are running on the latest software just before the launch of Android 10.
The Y12 and Y15 share the same processor which is the 2.0Ghz Mediatek Helios P22 processor. The Y17 has a more powerful 2.3Ghz Mediatek Helios P35 octa-core processor. The Y12 has 3GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage while the Y15 has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The Y17 has 4GB of RAM but has a whopping 128GB of internal storage, which is pretty good!
The Y12 has an 8MP front-facing camera with a bright f/1.8 aperture. The Y15 has a 16MP selfie camera with an f2.0 aperture while the Y17 has a 20MP f/2.0 selfie camera.
The trio shares the same primary cameras. This consists of a 13MP f/2.2 main shooter plus an 8MP f/2.2 wide-angle camera and a 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor. These cameras have a host of modes that includes timelapse, slow live photos, HDR, portrait bokeh (selfie camera), AI face beauty, camera filters and much more.
The Y17 is priced starting at Kshs 24,999 and will be available in either Mineral Blue and Mystic Purple. The Y15 starts at Kshs 21,999 and is available in either Aqua Blue or Burgundy Red.
These are incredibly competitive smartphones at this price range and their combination of offering wide angle cameras and huge batteries is a winner.
